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Robert F. Smith
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Robert F. Smith’s Student Freedom Initiative is working to ensure more minority college students are able to cross the stage despite their financial background.
The National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Week Conference is an event where the HBCU community comes together to envision how to combat the barriers it faces while also being given its flowers for its persistent advancement through it all. The annual conference is under the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
A leading Black firm in venture capital is working with one of today’s top Black founders. According to a press release, Base10 Partners and Robert F. Smith’s Student Freedom Initiative have joined to provide Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with more access to venture capital.
Robert F. Smith remains committed to students pursuing careers in the worlds of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). And this time, he is returning to where it all started, blessing the Cornell University College of Engineering with a generous gift. “I’m investing $15 million in the students of the College of Engineering to establish three funds here at Cornell that will help ensure diverse and historically underrepresented students get the chance to build their skills and thrive,” said Smith during an award ceremony held at his alma mater. “Thirteen million will help undergraduate and graduate students attend our university. The balance will help all of you succeed, allowing you to go to that national conference or earn that certificate. I am proud to do my part, but it is up to you to turn this funding into real value. That is what matters.”
It’s time for Black men to take their health more seriously, and this new initiative is here to help! Kicking off Minority Health Awareness Month on April 1, Robert F. Smith joined forces with Steve Harvey, Chris Tucker, Cedric the Entertainer, and Charlamagne Tha God to launch the Mount Sinai Robert F. Smith Mobile Prostate Cancer Screening Bus. The overall goal of the new state-of-the-art technology-run bus is to help raise awareness around prostate cancer by providing an opportunity for testing for the disease that has significantly taken a toll on the Black community. “Perhaps the most concerning thing I’ve seen throughout my involvement with prostate cancer research efforts is the lack of knowledge within those communities hit hardest by this disease,” said Smith in an exclusive email interview with AfroTech. “Black men are 76% more likely to develop high-risk prostate cancer and twice as likely to die from it. And yet, until recently there was very little awareness about the...
It appears that another Black mogul is gearing up to possibly become the first Black majority owner of a National Football League (NFL) team. In January 2021, AfroTech previously shared that while the Denver Broncos going up for sale in the NFL offseason was initially pending, Robert F. Smith shared his interest in placing a bid on the team. By Feb. 1, the football team officially went up for sale — commencing the bidding war. Since then, a source close with Smith disclosed that the billionaire isn’t planning to make a purchase, according to Denver’s 9 News. “Robert’s priorities right now are on the fight for voting rights and economic justice rather than being…an owner of a team,’’ said the source. “He continues to be most focused on how he can best help underserved communities gain access to capital, healthcare, education, and the ballot box. Pursuing ownership of the Broncos is not on his radar right now.” With Smith reportedly stepping out of the possibility of making history,...
Robert F. Smith is backing yet another initiative that aims to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The billionaire and his non-profit, Student Freedom Initiative, has teamed up with Prudential Financial to financially assist HBCU students, according to Black News. The new program, powered by the collaborative effort, is named Handling Everyday Life Problems for Students (HELPS). “Student Freedom Initiative applauds the leadership of Prudential Financial and their support for our shared mission of eliminating barriers of access for underserved communities,” Smith said. “By enabling the launch of the HELPS Program, a vital component of our work is to address the holistic needs of HBCU students and families, Prudential’s gift will provide long-needed and often overlooked aid and support persistence of those most vulnerable in our community.” Under the three-year pilot program, Prudential Financial is awarding $1.8 million in micro-grants to HBCU students “to...
Billionaire Robert F. Smith could be making history in the near future. According to Bleacher Report, the Denver Broncos could be up for sale in the NFL offseason. If indeed, the Broncos go up for sale, Smith has expressed an interest in bidding on the team. The Broncos are reportedly worth $3.75 billion. “If Denver is put up for sale, it will likely be through an auction because it is under the Patrick D. Bowlen Trust,” reports the outlet, who added that the sale of the team would benefit the seven Bowlen children. What’s more, the outlet confirms that as part of the deal with the trust, the beneficiaries of the trust would have to honor the highest bid for the team. “If the team is put up for sale, a legal source familiar with the Broncos’ ownership transition told 9News that it would likely be through auction because the team is under the Patrick D. Bowlen Trust umbrella,” Denver’s 9News reported. “This means the trustees would have a fiduciary responsibility to the trust’s...
Kevin Hart said he wants to be a billionaire before he turns age 45. Can he do it? Based on what we can see so far, the answer is most definitely “yes.” In an exclusive interview with CBS Sunday, the comedian & actor sat down with Gayle King to talk about his goals to reach that elusive billionaire status. For Hart, it’s about more than just the money — but about the message. And while he has a respectable net worth so far, he said he’d like the media to “tell a different story” in three years from now, when he turns 45-years-old. You can check out the full interview below. As AfroTech previously reported, Kevin Hart has an estimated net worth of $200 million. So, can he achieve the elusive billionaire status achieved by only a handful of Black men, so far? Will his net worth increase to that point? And what is his true driving motivation, anyway? We decided to take a look — and for the record, if his salary continues to increase, year over year, the way it has done so far, he will...
Access to financial education in America is on the rise thanks to Goalsetter! In a press release, the fintech platform that aims to provide families and K-12 youth with access to banking, financial education tools, investing and savings has just announced that it closed a $15 million Series A funding round. In an investment series led by Seae Ventures, with participants that include Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Astia Fund, Citizens Financial Group, CUNA Mutual Finance Group, Fiserv, Mass Mutual Catalyst Fund, Sterling National Bank, and a host of others, the funding will allow Goalsetter to further its B2B partnerships that align with its mission to transform financial education and access to wealth for all Americans. “For the first time in the history of America, Goalsetter is merging culture, media and entertainment with the world of finance to bring financial education tools that are fun, engaging, and accessible to every kid and family in the country,” Goalsetter Founder...
Goalsetter is making sure the next generation of Black and Latinx Americans is free from the financial burdens that have held us back for so long! As previously reported by AfroTech, Vista Equity Partners’ Robert F. Smith and Goalsetter’s Tanya Van Court announced the “One Stock. One Future.” initiative in October 2021. The initiative served as a call to action for both organizations and corporations to build up young people of color and set them on a path to financial freedom. It kicked off after Smith gifted five shares of stock — equivalent to about 15,000 total shares — to nearly 3,000 students, educators and staff members at the Eagle Academies for Young Men, a network of public, all-boys schools serving young men of color in New York City and Newark, NJ, according to a press release. As this called for a celebration, those Black students, the Black Billionaire, Black tech entrepreneur, Black educator and young Black men from the Morehouse Class of 2019 all graced the NYSE...